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This post has been co-written with Ben Wolfson, a full-time educator and assistant principal in the USA.
Finding high quality pumpkin activities for kindergarten can be tricky, but this great comparing sums to 5 pumpkin printable will quickly become a firm favorite in your math center rotations.
There’s something magic about fall in the kindergarten classroom. You’ve survived the first six weeks of school and the students are starting to gel together and learn how to be successful throughout their school day. It’s also time to start thinking about upgrading to a fall theme for your classroom, with pumpkins at the heart of everything you do.
Teaching Comparing Quantities to Kindergarteners
Kindergarten math revolves heavily around learning the basics of the number system; key skills are learned this year such as number names, number shapes, counting and subitizing to name but a few. Kindergarten students also have to master the concept of magnitude of numbers (e.g. being able to recognize that the digit 5 represents more than the digit 4).
Preparing Pumpkin Comparing Sums to 5
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These fun pumpkin activities for kindergarten are simple to use; just download, print either 2 or 4 to a page and you’re ready for math. Students can either use a clothes peg or a dry erase marker to show their choice, and you can make it a self-check activity by putting the correct answer on the back. Print an extra set if you’re going to try the mix and match extension activity.
Extension Activities for Comparing Quantities
Your students will master these pumpkin activities for kindergarten before the leaves start to truly change color, so you’ll want to have some of these extension activities prepared to challenge them further:
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Sort the cards – if you make each pumpkin printable into one fourth of a page, you end up with a set of cards for students to sort. They will first need to complete the cards using greater than lesser than or equal to signs, and then create piles of matching signs. You can use this as an opportunity to discuss the reciprocal nature of comparisons by switching the side that the sums are on (e.g. 4+2 > 2+1 so 2+1<4+2).
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Create equalities – as your students get familiar with comparing quantities that are already provided to them, you can push their understanding further by asking them to rewrite one of each pair of sums so that it generates an equality. For an extra challenge, they can’t simply repeat the sum on the other side of the equation.
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Mix and match – finally, while the base set gives you 20 comparing sums to 5, you can have students make many more by cutting up all 4 sums and having students pick 2 at a time to compare. You can extend this challenge by asking them to find pairs of sums that make greater than lesser than or equal equations.
More Pumpkin Themed Centers Perfect for Fall:
My Pumpkin Math and Literacy Themed Centers is a variety pack of 10 games focused on early literacy, math and fine motor skills.
These are the games included:
1) Alphabet Puzzles – 2 piece puzzles to match the capital letter to the lowercase letter.
2) Pumpkin Patch Letter Match – Students will pick a card and decide if the letters on the sign match. They will need to color in their answer on the recording sheet provided.
3) Pumpkin Short Vowel Spin – Use a plastic spinner or paper clip and pencil combination as a wheel. Students will spin the wheel, find a CVC word picture with that short vowel sound and cover it.
4) Sight Word Building – Using the pumpkin letter cards provided, students will need to form 40 Dolch Pre-Primer sight words.
5) Homophone Match – 2 piece puzzles for words like sea and see, tail and tale, etc.
6) Counting Mats to 20 – Provide some pumpkin seeds and tweezers and your one to one correspondence math center is ready to go!
7) Count and Compare – Students will need to count the number of pumpkin seeds in each pumpkin and decide which one has more.
8) Ten Frames – Match up the number with the pumpkin ten frame.
9) Sort by Addition Mats – Cut up the simple addition to 10 equations and have your students sort them according to the sum total.
10) Counting On to 20 – Students are shown a numeral on the card and some pumpkins. From this numeral, they will need to count forwards using the pumpkin pictures to help them and mark their answer with a clothespin or peg.
Check it out in my Teachers Pay Teachers store.
Pumpkin Themed Books Your Students Will Enjoy:
Other Fall Printables You’ll Love:
1) Fall Printable Worksheets Pack – 50-page pack for your little one to practice letter recognition, writing, counting, tracing, coloring and so much more.
2) Fall Leaves Number Sorting – Sort out the leaves and find which numbered tree they came from to practice number recognition, reading number words, and count with ten frames.
3) Fall Leaves Pick and Cover Letters – Pick a letter card then find and cover it on the playing mat.
4) Count and Compare Acorns – Your child will count and compare the groups of acorns to help the squirrel chose the bigger one.
5) Acorn Tracing Lines – Practice fine motor skills with these 4 different acorn-themed worksheets to help the squirrel grab the acorn!
6) Scarecrow Sums to 10 – So quick to set up in just a few minutes, you can sit back and relax while your preschooler or kindergartener has fun learning to solve simple sums to 10.
7) Scarecrow Number Tracing Strips – Combine fine motor practice with early math skills in this scarecrow-themed game to practice writing numbers 1 to 10.
8) Scarecrow Arrange By Size – Develop early math skills with these 3 scarecrow-themed image sets to arrange from smallest to biggest.
Get The Tools You Need For This Center Here:
Browse My Most Popular Math Printables:
1) Parking Cars Tracing Lines – More than 10 different tracing line patterns to choose from, all of which help with pencil control.
2) Scarecrow Arrange By Size – 3 different scarecrow-themed image sets that they will arrange from smallest to biggest.
3) Bumblebee Addition Game – Solve the sum and help the bee land on the correct flower!
4) Farm Shapes Mats – Use playdough, pompoms, stickers etc to learn 2D shapes.
5) Popsicle Stick Number Formation – Kids will love forming the numbers 1 to 10 when ice cream and popsicles are involved!
6) Valentines Printable Worksheets Pack – 50 pages of mixed literacy and math activities.
7) Zoo Animals Number Puzzle Strips – Complete these cute puzzles and learn the numbers 1 to 20.
8) Counting Colorful Bugs – This printable book will help kids count to 10 while also learning about color words.
9) Humpty Dumpty Numbers – In this printable game, your students will practice number recognition using 1 dice or simple addition when using 2 dice.
10) Build A Number Santa – Match the number to the correct number word, tally mark and domino to form a Santa Claus
